British jets strike Saddam Hussein’s palace used by ISIL as training center

A pair of British Royal Air Force (RAF) Tornados were part of a multinational squadron that bombed the former palace of Saddam Hussein on Aug. 1, the UK Ministry of Defense said.

RAF Tornado over the Akrotiri air base where British jets are based for missions against ISIL. /Matt Cardy/Getty Images

The Tornados were armed with 2,000-pound Paveway bombs, the RAF’s largest, in the attack on the palace, which was being used by Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) as a training center for foreign recruits.

Hussein’s palace was built near the Tigris river, in close proximity to Mosul.

The UK Ministry of Defense said the compound included “the main palace used for accommodation and meetings, and outbuildings used for command and control, training, internal security and repression.”

“Daesh [ISIL] has been losing followers and territory for months, and emphatic strikes like this show that we and the coalition will not waver, ”UK Defense Secretary Michael Fallon said.

Fallon announced that additional UK troops would deploy to Iraq later this month to support the U.S.-led coalition fighting ISIL.